The Xerces Society, an international non-profit that works to conserve invertebrates and their habitats, has launched a new website that hosts an extensive database of pesticide research. The Impacts of Pesticides on Invertebrates Database collects and disseminates summaries of research articles about pesticides that their impact on invertebrates, particularly pollinators, and the environment. Articles can be […]
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The Pulitzer Prizes for 2017 were announced this week and among the usual nods to The New York Times and The Washington Post was a surprise winner. The Pulitzer for Editorial Writing went to The Storm Lake Times, a small town rural Iowa paper with a circulation of about 3,000. Art Cullen (shown at center of the picture to […]
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For years many people worked to promote interest in “soil quality,” a term meant to encompass the physical, chemical and biological properties that make well-managed soils rich, productive, and alive. But to Ray Archuleta, a leading voice for soil conservation within the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, a new approach to soil management was needed, […]
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DDT is the chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide that was developed during World War II and dominated post-war insect pest management for 20+ years. It was the most widely used insecticide in a family of chemistry that included aldrin, dieldrin, toxaphene, chlordane, hepatchor, and a handful of other active ingredients. It was widely regarded as a miracle […]
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The Attorney General (AG) of the State of Massachusetts has succeeded, for what is believed to be the first time, in getting a pesticide giant to change they way they communicate with the public about pesticide risks to the environment. As this press release describes how the state accused Bayer of misleading consumers about the […]
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By Brian Baker Rotenone is a non-synthetic botanical insecticide and piscicide (chemical poisonous to fish) derived from the roots of Derris spp., Lonchocarpus spp. and Tephrosia spp. It has been used historically in organic production, usually with restrictions that limit its impact on human health and the environment. Prior to the isolation and commercialization of organically acceptable formulations […]
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Dave Flynn and Cory Carman own and manage one of the wonderful, productive and beautiful grass-based cattle operations in the Pacific Northwest. The fourth-generation, 2,500+ acre Carman Ranch in Wallowa, Oregon is just over the ridge from where I live, near Troy, Oregon. We have bought our beef for years from the Carman Ranch, and more […]
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This great, long essay on soil health has unusually blunt discussion of the implications of declining soil health. Molly Jahn, a professor of Agronomy at my alma mater UW-Madison, seamlessly merges insights from a helicopter ride outside Des Moines during planting season, to the early crusade to expose and end slavery among sugar plantation workers […]
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The U.S. Geological Survey recently published a comprehensive overview of pesticides in the nation’s streams and ground water. Water samples were collected at 186 streams in 51 study areas across the country and pesticides in ground water were monitored in over 5,000 wells. The findings confirm earlier studies showing that pesticides have become ubiquitous contaminants […]
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The environmental benefits of organic farming have been widely acknowledged. In a long-term study of organic, conventional, and integrated apple orchards in Washington State, a team of scientists documented several important environmental benefits. In the organic blocks of trees, nitrogen (N) losses to groundwater and the atmosphere were reduced relative to conventional agriculture. Annual nitrate […]
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